President Biden’s reelection campaign is making a strategic move to win over Florida, a state trending towards the GOP and now home to former President Trump.
Although winning back the Sunshine State will be an uphill battle, the campaign believes that the issue of abortion, which will be on the ballot due to a new restrictive state law, can give Biden and other Democrats a huge boost.
The campaign notes that Democrats won Florida as recently as the 2012 presidential race when President Obama and Biden defeated Republican Sen. Mitt Romney. While winning Florida will be challenging, the campaign is not taking any state for granted in an election that currently appears to be a dead heat nationally.
President Joe Biden (Credits: ABC17NEWS)
Democratic strategist Michael Starr Hopkins emphasized that “writing Florida off as a long shot is a big mistake” and that the campaign has a strong presence in the state, with an “unprecedented groundswell of support.”
Abortion has been a successful issue for Democrats since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, and it will be a major issue in Florida. The state’s new law, which reduces the cutoff for legal access to abortion from 15 weeks to six, has sparked controversy, and a ballot measure will allow voters to decide whether to protect access to abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
The Biden campaign and Democrats hope that this measure will drive pro-Biden voters to the polls and put Florida’s 30 electoral votes in play. Vice President Harris will travel to Jacksonville to campaign on the day the six-week abortion ban takes effect, following Biden’s recent visit to Tampa for a campaign event focused on abortion rights.
Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg noted that the issue of abortion could make a difference in Florida, as the new law polls poorly, with 57% of Floridians considering it “too strict.” Additionally, 42% of voters said they would vote in favor of a ballot amendment to enshrine abortion protections into the state constitution.
Donald Trump (Credits: POLITICO.eu)
While Trump defeated Biden in Florida by over 3 percentage points in the 2020 election, the campaign has not given up on the state, spending money there in 2023 and this year.
However, some Democrats are less optimistic about a return to glory in Florida, acknowledging that it has been a challenging state for the party in recent years.
Still, in a close election, expanding the playing field and not ruling out Florida is crucial, according to Democratic strategist David Thomas. With its large number of voters and electoral votes, Florida remains an important state to contest.
